The DeSmet leader. (DeSmet, Kingsbury Co., Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1887-06-04
find the following method gives good

find the following method gives good
results. AS soon as the child enters
school begin to teach him to write. !
generally begin with them on the black
board. First print the letters and
have the little ones copy them as best
they can. When they have acquired
the ability of printing and recognizing
the letters somewhat readily, as well as
developed some skill in initiating, / at
once begin with the script letters. also
on the blackboard. AT each recitation
write one, two or more letters on the
board. and have the little ones practice
them for few minutes. Ialways take
the simplest forms first. / find tie
children enjoy the work very much,
and although at first their hieroglyphic
marks do not look like letters or any
thing else, they soon begin TO recognize
the forms and get some idea Of how TO
reproduce them.
While they are thus engagedsNI hear
the other classes, and SO very little &C
my time is taken UP FOR that purpose,
while the little ones have chance to
write from four 10 SIX times day.
Aside from the valuable practice Ii af-
fords, 1t keeps them out Of mischief,
for that length OF time at least, and it
is an agreeable change from other work.
In about a months time the average
child will know the letters, and will be
able to make them with some degree Of
ease and plainncss. ! next have the
children practice on short words ard
simple combinations, gradually intro
ducing more difficult ones as they are
capable. But why so much blackboard
work? first, because one copy will suf-
flee for the whole class, thus saving
much Of my time; second, because the
unsteady, unframed hand OF the child
can more easily reproduce a large form
than small one; third, because child
rem enjoy it more, DO you not require
any slate work. Yes, a great deal OF
it, and that to be done In their seats,
both az a means TO keep them busy,
and to give them additional practice in
writing. During the regular writing
exercise in which the whole school take
part, I have the little ones practice the
same copies as the large scholars, un-
less too difficult, In which case I write
copies specially for them.
by this method I generally succeed
in from three TO four months, not only
to make all the letters plainly and read
lily, but also to combine them in words,
in short, to write fairly plain and leg
ible hand. Considering the time spent
this is not much, but have secn CHILD
rem who have attended school as many
terms. net do any better. Now q few
words about teaching writing to large
scholars. In the first place let Inc say
that / use no copy books. have no
faith in them. Are the copies not good
enough I? to be sure they are; they are
what I term discouragingly exact and
beautiful; but they seldom make good
penmcn The average scholar win try
and initiate tie copy the Grst line or
two, then he will grow tired OF it. and
the rest of the rage lie viii copy lis
own mistakes right along, and hs
writing will be more careless as he pro-
ceeds down the page. Very few scholars
can write the same copy an entire page
and keep up the interest, Copy-books
teach nothing about movements, PEN
holding. position, etc. / have invarIa-
bly, found pupils, who have learned to
write after copy book, to write a slow.
irregular and cramped-up
hand. Therefore, / think the copy
book does not serve tile purpose for
which it was intended. / recommend
good foolscap paper. write copies OH
the blackboard and require the whole
school to write them. l use numerous
movement exercises, thereby securing
ease and rapidity Of execution. use
great deal Of concert work by means Of
counting, which find beneficial in
making the slow writers more rapid,
and lessening the speed of those who
are inclined TO scribble too fast. r
practice the letters in groups, and with
reference to the leading principles
which compose them. Slant, height,
spacing. shade, looping. connecting re-
ceiye duo attention. Dy varying the
exercises, and introducing something
new every day, the scholars do not tire.
but find the writing lesson as interest,"
ing and pleasant as any work In school.
But some may ask this question: Can
a teacher, even q sO-called penmah,
write as good and exact copies as those
found in copy-booksy Certainly not,
nor do think the ability to write
nice copy is the main thing, although
very desirable. A thorough knowledge
of the movements, ability to apply
them TO practice and to teach them.
consider the most necessary qualifica-
tion OF the teacher Of penmansllip. A
person may be able to write Hno
hand, and yet not be able to teach the
art. To drill the pupils il the move
ments, pen holding. position, etc.. Is Of
prime importance. "A cr eping, crawl
ing unsteady hand is alv ags attributal 10
to faulty MOVEMENT. am not in favor
Of attempting to acquire very exact.
fine, fancy hand. The time we are able
to devote to writing is too limited to
make it possible to become expert pcrl-
meD. All we can do il toteach onr pus
pills how to write plain, rapid. legible
hand. This we can do, aud in SO dong
we confer a far greater benefit on the
youth than IL we teach them q slow.
crawling, exact hand, which In the rush
Of business Is Of comparatively little
importance. Among the first requisites
Of good writing, consider speed feGu-
larity and legibiIity. Writing posstss-